Fabulous Financials

Apologize for the delay, still basking in the glory of completing my first 5k. Hey, I rhymed! :-)

I want to thank nofearingthemoney and chele for checking in with me almost everyday of the challenge and staying committed to their goals from the beginning to the very end.  Congratulations!  If you both will email me your mailing address, I’d really appreciate it.

What…you guys didn’t know there would be a prize at the end?  Yea baby!  I like to reward dedication and commitment. That’s what achieving goals is all about!

Well, you all know how I did on the 5k. So tell me…how did YOU do on the $5k vs. 5k challenge?  What was your goal and what did you accomplish?

This is the final week of the challenge. I run my first 5k on Saturday!! Woo Hoo!!

Who’s still hanging in there with me? Roll Call!

It’s an open forum, share your experience so far!

I know I haven’t been blogging about personal finance lately (I’m sorry!), but I did write a guest post for a fellow blogger who is reading The Power to Prosper by Michelle Singletary and doing a 21 day financial fast.  I didn’t participate in the fast because I knew that I’d be bleeding money until the end of summer, so she asked me to write a guest post on the final chapter of the book – Financial Freedom. Go check it out!

As briefly mentioned in the previous post, fellow PF Blogger from A Gai Shan Life has matched my 5k ambition with a $5k savings challenge.  She plans to flex her financial muscles and run with me (in spirit) while I train for my first 5k.  Between May 2nd and June 5th (race day), her goal is to save $5,000.  Lofty?  Maybe.  So is training for your first 5k in only four weeks.  That’s ok though because it’s all in fun and neither of us are strangers to difficult situations.

We’re about to get it in!

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Will you join us in the $5K vs. 5K Finance & Fitness Challenge? Check out some of the deets.

WHEN TO BEGIN:

Now!

WHEN TO STOP SAVING OR IMPROVING FITNESS:

Never!  But the goal for this challenge is June 5th.

THE PROCESS:

Finance – Take a long, hard look at your personal finances.  Are you living paycheck to paycheck?  Do you have credit card debt?  Do you spend frivolously?  What can you do to improve your financial situation?  Identify just ONE behavior you can change TODAY that will help you save more money…and challenge yourself to do it for the entire month of May.  Other savings details can be found on Revanche’s blog throughout the month.

Fitness – I don’t expect to run a perfect race.  In fact, due to a foot injury, I don’t expect to RUN the entire race at all.  I will train with dedication, put in 110%, and do the very best I can.  Whatever fitness goal you choose, I expect the same of you.  Other fitness details can be found here throughout the month because I plan to blog everyday.  So feel free to stop by and share your fitness challenges and victories!

THE GOAL:

Finance – you and Revanche will aim to save $5k by June 5th.  Not exact, just aim for it.

Fitness – Whatever area of fitness YOU want to improve.  I will run my first 5k on June 5th.

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So far, we have the following participants:

FINANCE

Revanche

BK Diva

FITNESS

Single Ma (heeeey, that’s ME!)

Chele

BK Diva

nofearingthemoney (no blog)

Tazzee

mzinspiredmind

If interested, let me know which side of the challenge you’re taking (finance or fitness) and what your goal will be.  It’s only for the month of May so you HAVE to decide and get started TODAY.  Leave a comment with your deets.  Let’s get it!

At the beginning of April, I committed to several health & wealth goals.  Check up time!

HEALTH

• Increase my workouts to 5 days per week.  FAIL! Maybe jumping from 3 to 5 was too lofty.  But I’m finally getting in the groove of working out 4 days per week and I like it.

• Eat breakfast, take iron supplement, drink water as primary, and incorporate lots of fruits and veggies into my daily diet by creating weekly meal plans. BINGO! I’ve got this on lock. I eat well 90% of the time and it’s a habit now. Yay!

• Limit meals outside the home to no more than 3x per month. BINGO! I only dined out (i.e. ate a meal in a restaurant) exactly 3x in April. However, I spent a weekend visiting family, which is technically outside MY home, and ate a bunch southern comfort food that was full of fat, salt, and sugar.  Mmmm…so bad but so good.  I worked out the entire weekend, and when I returned home, I immediately jumped back on the healthy food wagon.

• Include God, my most important accountability partner, in my plans and read/write in my prayer journal at least 3x per week. BINGO! I don’t always read/write in my prayer journal but I do talk with God about my fitness goals more often nearly every day.

• Lose a minimum of -1 lb each week but strive for a total  loss of -30 lbs by month end.  BOOYA!! I lost more than a -1 lb each week, and as of April 30th, I’ve lost -31.6 lbs!  Oh yea!

WEALTH

• Now that BG has chosen a school, I can finally book our European vacation.  My goal is to have it done by the end of the month.  BINGO! We’re going to Paris y’all!!  I booked our flights, hotel, and activities earlier this month and spent about $4,500…so far.

• Ma Dukes has a birthday coming around the bend.  BINGO! Ma Dukes’ born day was a success and she was loving the attention.  I took her to the spa where she had a massage, facial, manicure, and pedicure – a full day fit for a Queen.  We had a dinner party (i.e. family visit with southern comfort food mentioned above).  And I also convinced her & BG to exercise with me one morning.  It felt good to make Health & Fitness a family affair.  Spent about $200 the entire weekend.

• As always, I will save and invest according to plan FIRST, then have guilt free fun later.  BINGO! Similar to my new eating habits, I’ve got this on lock. This one is so ingrained, I do it without thinking.

Overall, I rocked it out in April. Go me!